I really have to improve my message-taking skills. Due to me being confused by the fact that the 27th days of both February and March fall on a Sunday, Carolyn and I turned up to do an acoustic show last night a WHOLE MONTH early! Man, did I feel stupid. As (our) luck would have it, one of the bands scheduled to play had dropped out, so we managed to sneak onto the bottom of the bill and got to do our thing in front of somebody else's unsuspecting audience. It's good in a way that I got my dates confused, because it meant we had to pull our fingers out and get our shit together a whole four weeks earlier than we would have done, so the six or so hours of emergency rehearsals we did was time put to good use, not least because we made a quick recording of the set in that time. We did it primarily to help us remember words and vocal parts (it didn't work. I sang a lot of "nnnn..mmm" last night where the English language should have been), but it turned out well enough to be fit for human consumption, so I've uploaded an mp3 for your consideration. We only did a four-song set last night, consisting of "Girlshaped" (mp3 here), "Which way will I go" (downloadable as an internet single from here), a cover of Iron and Wine's "Naked as we came" (in a different key and with the boy / girl parts swapped round) and a new version of "We will not know peace" (from Betikassette 2). We're going to be playing a lot more acoustic slots in the coming weeks, partly to force us to practice real hard (and learn some more songs), but equally just for the joy of it......and the love of the sound of our own voices! Having realised that there may be mileage in turning up at venues unannounced, these gigs may happen on a bit of a random basis, but the next one we have in the diary is at "Limbs", the new night from the creator of the legendary "Pand'a Flesh" nights and compilation CDs, which is at Alcatraz nightclub in Holdenhurst Road on Thursday 17th March. Also playing that night will be Imogen's dad, whose folk guitar stylings I've been looking forward to seeing for months, and various other acoustic acts of which I know nothing. As it's St. Patrick's that night, I'd love it if there was some kind of Irish folk session- I've always wanted to join in with one of those, but I've always known in my heart that I'll always be too hamfisted. Perhaps I could persuade them to play very slowly?
